


The Argument Against Holidays

by WakeUpDreaming



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Car Sex, Car break down, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Make up sex, Thanksgiving, awkward family situations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-11-27
Packaged: 2018-05-03 13:42:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5293295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakeUpDreaming/pseuds/WakeUpDreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Thanksgiving with Toby's family for the first time he's seen them in years, Happy's on edge. The argument that ensues bleeds into their work, and everything just keeps going wrong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Argument Against Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for racism by a character (off screen - referenced by Happy), angst. Written for the tumblr prompt: Established Quintis are in the middle of an argument and are forced to go on a case where they end up lost and broken down in Toby’s Monte Carlo somewhere in the middle of nowhere at night and then it gets smutty and fluffy.  
> The tone of this probably is colored by my perspective of obligatory family holidays.

“You got us lost.”

Happy looks over at him. “I’m sorry. Who’s the navigator?”

“I said to take exit eight,” Toby says. “Did you take exit eight? No, you didn’t.”

“Because it was closed!” Happy exclaims.

“Clearly you could have still gone through,” Toby argues. “Look, they had a lane if it was a necessary exit.”

“It wasn’t,” Happy says, gritting her teeth. “I can find our way back to the garage through back roads, so back off.”

Toby sighs. “I know you’re still on edge from that awkward conversation with my grandma –”

“Awkward conversation?!” Happy shrieks. “She asked me if I spoke English!”

Toby looks horrified. “I only heard the part when she started asking about babies.”

Happy groans. “Yeah, well, that was after she told me I didn’t act as Asian as she expected. We’re never doing Thanksgiving with your relatives ever again.”

“I had no idea they were going to be weird,” Toby says. “My cousin told me they all missed me and I figured they’d be normal.”

Happy rolls her eyes. “Clearly not. They’re all racist hillbillies.”

“Do you see me denying that?” Toby asks. “Why do you think I haven’t seen them in sixteen years?”

The drive continues in silence as Happy cranks up Within Temptation. Toby is clearly uncomfortable with the volume, but she needs it loud to drown out how horrible she’s feeling.

Thanksgiving is terrible and she hates it. They should have just gotten Thai and spent the day in the garage making out in between projects.

“I’m sorry,” Toby says quietly as they pull up to the garage.

Happy turns to him as she throws the car in park. “Why are you sorry?” she bites. “You weren’t the one spewing racist drivel.”

“I made you go.”

She knows he didn’t mean it the way it sounds, but she’s on edge and she’s uncomfortable and she feels like her skin is crawling. She can’t hold back her, “Oh, my god, you can’t make me do anything. Stop being such a victim.”

Toby looks like she hit him as he takes a step away from her and she knows she stepped over a line, said something that not only she didn’t mean but that’s not even true. He opens his mouth, glaring at her, then closes it, shaking his head. “I don’t want to do this right now,” he says, his hands in the air.

The atmosphere is charged until Cooper walks in saying, "We've got a case, team."

Cooper explains the problem, Happy and Toby standing as far away from each other as possible. After the debriefing, Walter outlines the game plan.

“Alright, Happy and Toby,” Walter begins, “you need to head to Nevada – see if we can catch them on the highway on the way to LA, disarm their vehicles before they can even get here.” He nods to Sly, Paige, and Cabe. “The three of us will start building the tech defense for LA. If we can keep them from getting here and setting off the EMP, great. But if they get here,” he shrugs, “let’s be ready for them.”

Happy can hardly contain her fury as Walter speaks. She doesn’t want to drive down an empty highway for hours until they might happen upon a vehicle that might contain the EMP device, and she wants to do it even less with Toby in the car.

“Can I go with Paige?” Happy asks.

“No,” Walter replies. “I need her here.”

Happy stares at him. “Why?”

“Because I need someone who can charm their way into the Hollywood sets without getting noticed.”

“Get Toby to do it.”

Walter rolls his eyes. “Most Hollywood executives are men. The kind of charming I need is exclusively appropriate for Paige.”

Happy groans. “Do I have to take him?”

“Yes,” Walter says firmly. “Because if you do your job, there will be damage and we need somebody there to keep the criminals alive so they can go to trial.”

Happy folds her arms. “That’s bullshit.”

Walter just walks away.

An hour later Happy’s got all of her materials ready and Toby is awkwardly hovering near his car. Happy's is too small for how long their driving, and she knows it. But she's not happy about it.

“You want to drive?” he asks carefully.

“Fine,” Happy says, pulling the door open and sliding in the seat.

Happy blares Illmatic as they drive, refusing to talk to him. On the other hand, he hasn’t even tried to instigate any chatter, mindless or otherwise. That in and of itself worries her and bothers her more than she wants to admit.

About halfway into Death Valley, their eyes alert for the truck, the car starts smoking.

“You're fucking kidding me,” Happy growls. She pulls the car over, throwing the car in park as she gets out. She kicks the hood until it pops open, getting half blown over by thick grey smoke.

“What the fuck did you do to this car?!” Happy says. “It looks like the whole thing is rusted out!”

Toby gets out of the car. “I don’t – it’s never done this before.”

“Have you driven it more than fifty miles in one stretch in the past decade?” Happy snaps, glaring at him.

He frowns. “No,” he says, “because I haven’t taken a vacation in years and other than that we take the work van, or do you just want something else to be mad at me about?”

Happy takes a step back. He’s never done anything like that to her before, and it strikes her that she speaks to him like that all the time when she’s angry.

“Sorry,” she manages. She patiently shows him what’s wrong and moves some tubes and wires around.

“Hey, put your hand here,” Happy says, “might be able to weld something together if I can get some parts from a near gas station."

She pulls her phone out. Nothing.

“Okay,” she grumbles. She runs out a quarter mile in each direction, the desert heat burning into her skin, but still, she can’t even send a text to Cabe and Walter to ask for help.

“No cell service,” Happy says, throwing her phone down next to the car. “This couldn’t get worse.”

The car makes another disconcerting crunch.

“So, that’s a sign to walk away from the car, genius,” Happy says. She can't stop the venom from seeping into her voice, it just keeps coming.

“Can’t,” Toby says, voice sounding strained. “You told me to hold this piece until you came back and I think something bad will happen if I drop it.”

Happy rushes to the car and checks on the piece. She touches it gently, pushing with just a bit of pressure, and it falls out onto the ground.

“I have no idea what just happened,” she says, eyes wide. “I don’t – I think your car just rusted itself apart.”

Toby shakes his head in disbelief. “Honestly, I didn’t even know there was rust.”

“Clearly,” Happy bites.

Toby looks at her, half his face smudged with grease and dirt. She’s annoyed that she finds it attractive. “Tell me what to do to make it better,” he says desperately, “and I’ll do it.”

Happy prepares to scream at him, to tell him to shut up.

Instead her body just loses its strength and she slumps against the car.

“That’s new,” Toby says, his eyes wide with concern. “Hap, talk to me. Or – hit me. Something.”

“I don’t know why I’m angry,” she says finally, the irrational fight leaving her. “I just am. I hate holidays and I hated your family and I –” she stops. “And I can’t believe how much I don’t fit in with them.” 

Toby searches her face but she doesn’t fight him on it, just looks up at him and tries to fight the urge to scream.

“You don’t have to fit in with them,” Toby says. “I’m yours. I don’t give a crap what they think. I don't want to see them ever again, especially after hearing what Grandma said to you.”

Happy shrugs. “Yeah, well, they were all terrible.”

“Exactly,” Toby says. “Reasons why I haven’t spoken to them since my mom died. They’re terrible.”

Happy folds her arms across herself, leaning against the car like it could protect her from how nervous she is. “They didn’t even care what I can do,” she says, frustrated and angry. “They just kept making dumb comments and asking me about babies, like that’s all I’m good for.” She looks at him. "They literally kept shoving your cousin's kids at me. I don't want to hold a stranger's baby! What if it pukes on me?"

Toby leans against the car net to her. “Happy Quinn,” he says, “if you wanted to open a restaurant specializing in exclusively muffins, you’d be good at it. I don’t get a damn what anybody else thinks. Anything you choose to do will be amazing. You don't have to hold a baby if you don't want to.”

She exhales shakily. "They're okay when they're older, but I'm not sold on the part when all they do is be disgusting."

He slides closer to her, resting a hand on top of hers. She flips it to interlock their fingers and turns to him. “If you want kids in the future, then I’m there with you,” he says. “But right now the Happy Quinn I love is the Happy Quinn who can dismantle an EMP with three wrenches and a roll of aluminum foil. And maybe in the future I’ll love the Happy Quinn who can do all that and change a diaper in thirty seconds. But that's up to you.”

She leans against him, and he wraps an arm around her. “I don’t know if I want all that,” Happy says quietly. “And I can’t handle your family asking and asking about it when I don't know if that's even in my future.”

Toby’s eyes search her face. "Whatever happens, we’ll figure out. I don’t want you to think that they’re speaking for me. I want you forever, whatever that means.” He smiles, brushing her hair behind her ear. “I’m in this for the long haul unless you tell me to go.”

Happy smiles. “I don't think I'm going to do that.” She shoves at his shoulder, but he catches her hand and kisses her palm.

“Good deal,” he says. He leans in to kiss her, but Happy stands and takes his hand. She stands, pulling him to the passenger door.

“I like where this is going,” Toby says, a small smile making its way across his face.

“We got nothing better to do,” Happy says, shoving him into the seat. “And I’ve heard make up sex is pretty good.”

Toby nods, a little frenetically. “Oh yeah,” he says, licking his lips, “definitely. But come here so I can kiss you.”

“Good idea.” She settles on his lap, her hands going for his shirt. She grins. “And besides, you’re being all sweet and stuff while covered in car muck. I hate to admit it, but that kind of turns me on.”

“Oh, really?” Toby says. “In that case, I think you’re gorgeous and brilliant and you’re the hottest mechanic on the planet.”

Happy laughs as she pulls his shirt off and throws it in the back seat. “That’s just all true,” she says. “Get creative.”

“Okay,” Toby says, his hands running up and down her sides. “I’d pick you over my asshole relatives any day.”

“Let’s not talk about your family while I’m on top of you,” Happy says, frowning.

“Good deal,” Toby says. He pulls Happy’s tank top off over her head, then pulls Happy in for a kiss. “I think,” he says, “you’re my future, Happy Quinn.”

One hundred sixty-five days. That’s how long they’ve been together before Toby pulls a card that close to a proposal.

Happy’s shocked that she’s not scared out of her mind; instead, it makes her feel even more comfortable.

“Good,” she says, “because you’re mine.”

She didn’t mean to say it, but she did, and it ignites something in Toby. He’s learned to ditch the words at a certain point, reject them in favor of kissing her like she’s fresh air after drowning, and Happy’s half desperately trying to show him how much she means what she said. She's never had a fight that potent and worked through it, never survived that much vitriol and come out stronger afterwards. She trusts him, god, she trusts him even more after that. 

Jeans are halfway down their legs in seconds and it’s gotten to be second nature for the two of them, their rhythm part of their personalities now.

Toby, when he’s trying not to speak, does this thing where he kisses her everywhere just to keep his cool. It’s usually preferable to the words, but right now Happy wants to hear them.

“You can tell me,” she says quietly.

“I love you,” Toby says, one hand in her hair, an open and vulnerable expression on his face. “So much.”

Happy closes her eyes when she leans in and kisses him, saying, “I love you,” against his lips, the words catching between breathing and half-moans.

They fall apart with each other’s names on their lips, and Happy rests her forehead against Toby’s as they regain their senses.

“My car should break down more often,” Toby says, playing with Happy’s hair.

“No,” Happy says, “it shouldn’t. It’s getting dark soon and we still have no way out of here."

Toby looks over her shoulder. “Well would you look at that.”

They pull their clothes back on, Happy accidentally kicking Toby in the knee with her boot and enduring his dramatic whining with a laugh or two. The desert heat has broken as the sun has set, and Happy grabs a blanket from the back seat and crawls into Toby’s lap. He wraps his arms around her waist as she settles against him.

“I love you,” he mutters, kissing the top of her head.

“I know,” she replies.

He laughs. “Okay, Han Solo.”

“Does that make you my Leia?” Happy asks. “Because I think you could rock a gold bikini.”

“Hey,” says Toby, “you KNOW I could rock a gold bikini.”

Happy pauses. “If he insists on it, next year’s Halloween costume for Ralph?” she suggests.

“Deal.”

They watch the sky blend from pinks and oranges into blues and blacks as night finally envelopes the desert, and Happy dozes off in Toby’s arms.

“Happy,” Toby says urgently, some time later. “Happy, wake up.” His voice is a harsh whisper and her eyes fly open immediately.

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

He points into the distance. A car is driving toward them, honking in a way more threatening than Happy would like.

“I got this,” Happy says, grabbing a tire iron from Toby’s back seat.

“Where did – did you put that in my car?!” Toby exclaims.

Happy rolls her eyes. “You never know when you’re going to have to change a tire.”

She throws the door open and steps outside.

“Happy –”

“I’m fine, Toby,” Happy groans.

The car pulls up next to her and Happy swings the tire iron in her hands as menacingly as she can muster.

And then the window rolls down and Cabe looks at her with a pained expression.

"We’re here to get you home," Cabe says. :"Walter and Sly are back at the garage - we figured there was something wrong when neither of you were responding to phone calls.” He winces. "Also, I don't ever want to know why you're not wearing pants."

“I tried to tell her!” Toby exclaims.

“Cute undies!” Paige says, leaning over from the driver's seat.

“You people realize I’m still holding a tire iron, right?” Happy says. She awkwardly shuffles back to the car where Toby’s already holding up her jeans and she pulls them on.

“We’re never mentioning this again,” Happy says.

“Agreed,” says Cabe. “Now hook that piece of junk up to the back of this car and we’ll tow it to the nearest station."

Happy stares. "There's one near here?" she asks. "How far?"

"About two miles that way," Cabe gestures.

“You didn’t think to walk to find a gas station?” Paige asks.

Happy exchanges a look with Toby. “We were busy,” she offers, trying to avoid everyone's eyes.

“Gettin’ busy,” says Paige. Then her expression changes. “Sorry,” she says, “it’s been a long day looking for you guys and I’ve had a lot of coffee.”

“Motion to erase this from history?” Toby asks, gathering his things and putting them in the trunk of the SUV.

“Seconded,” Paige says, still looking uncomfortable.

"Passed," Cabe says firmly. "Now get in the car."

Toby falls asleep against Happy’s shoulder on the drive home, and Paige turns around in the seat with a big smile on her face.

“You guys are cute,” she says. “I’m glad you solved that argument.”

Happy stares at her. “How do you know we solved it?”

Paige raises an eyebrow. “Please,” she says, turning back around in her seat.

Happy’s still not entirely clear on what Paige means, but Happy dozes off with her hand in Toby’s and she thinks she might have a hint.


End file.
